US Healthcare System Ill Prepared To Handle Growing Number Of Obese Patients.

reports in a 1,900-word story that even though “one in three Americans is obese,” the US “health care system – in its attitudes, equipment and common practices – is ill prepared, and its practitioners are often unwilling, to treat the rising population of fat patients.” For people whose body mass index is “40 or higher,” the “situation is particularly thorny,” especially since such people face serious health issues. Both physicians and patients attribute the situation partly to “a reluctance to look beyond a fat person’s weight.” The Times adds, “The disease of obesity might exacerbate cancer, said Dr. Clifford Hudis, the chief executive officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.” However, “he added, another reason for poor outcomes in obese cancer patients is almost certainly that medical care is compromised.” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/health/obese-patients-health-care.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0